Kodiyeri Balakrishnan steps down, MV Govindan Master is new CPM Kerala state secretary

MV Govindan Master, who is currently the minister for local self-government in Kerala, was made the CPM state secretary after incumbent Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stepped down on account of poor health.

MV Govindan Master, a prominent leader from the CPI(M) stronghold of Kannur, was selected as the party secretary at the party state committee meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram. (Photo source: Twitter/ CPI(M))

Setting the stage for a reshuffle in the CPI(M)-led Kerala Cabinet, central committee member and state local self-government minister M V Govindan Master was on Sunday selected as the party state secretary. Govindan was made the CPI(M) state chief after incumbent Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stepped down on account of poor health.

Govindan, a prominent leader from the CPI(M) stronghold of Kannur, was selected as the party secretary at the party state committee meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The meeting was attended by general secretary Sitaram Yechury, politburo members Prakash Karat, M A Baby and A Vijayaraghavan, apart from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

An ailing Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who has been leading the party’s state unit since 2015, had earlier expressed his desire to step down as he could not discharge his daily duties as party state secretary.

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Picking a minister as party secretary is likely to result in a reshuffle of the Cabinet led by Vijayan, who recently completed a year in his second consecutive tenure as the chief minister. The party has not officially spoken about the Cabinet reshuffle.

In 1998, when Pinarayi Vijayan was selected as the party state secretary, he had been the power minister under the CPI(M) government led by E K Nayanar. Vijayan assumed office as party state secretary when incumbent Chadayan Govindan died. Vijayan then continued in the post till 2015 and went on to become the longest-serving CPI(M) state secretary.

Balakrishnan, who assumed office as state secretary in 2015, stepped down in November 2020 citing ill-health. This was also the time when his son Bineesh Kodiyeri got arrested in a money laundering case in Bengaluru. Then the party appointed senior leader and then LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan as the acting state secretary. The CPI(M) went on to retain power in the state following the Assembly elections in May 2021. In December 2021, Balakrishnan returned as the party state secretary a month after his son Bineesh was released on bail.

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